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5 Genetically Modified Foods You Should Never Eat

ICTMN Staff

7/15/13

Since genetically engineered foods were introduced in 1996, the United States has experienced as upsurge in low birth-weight babies, infertility and an increase in cancer.

Agricultural tech giants like Monsanto have restricted independent research on their crops, which is legal, because under U.S. law, genetically engineered crops are patentable. The studies that have been conducted link genetically modified foods to a vast array of diseases—and long-term effects have yet to be measured.

Below, Indian Country Today Media Network rounds up the five most deadly genetically modified crops or substances on the market that you should avoid at all cost.

1. Corn

This is not our ancestors’ corn. Genetically modified corn contains toxic materials and is at least 20 percent less nutritious for our bodies, according to a report titled “2012 Nutritional Analysis” by globalresearch.ca.

Corn is the worst offender on the GMO list, because at least 65 percent of the U.S. corn production is genetically modified, and it is found in so many products and forms—on the cob, in nearly every processed food with corn syrup, in the corn feed consumed by the chickens and cows you may eat, and the list goes on.

Genetically engineered corn contains the highly toxic gene Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), which Monsanto introduced in the 1990s to make plants immune to Roundup, which is Monsanto’s weed and insect killer that tears into the stomachs of certain pests.

According to Sherbrooke University Hospital in Canada, Bt has been found in the blood of humans, including in 93 percent of pregnant women they tested, in 80 percent of the umbilical blood in their babies, and in 67 percent of non-pregnant women tested.

2. Soy

More than 90 percent of soybeans grown in the United States are genetically modified, and animal studies have shown devastating effects from genetically engineered soy, including allergies, sterility, birth defects, and offspring death rates up to five times higher than normal, according to Dr. Joseph Mercola in the Huffington Post.

Americans typically consume unfermented soy, mostly in the form of soymilk, tofu, TVP, and soy infant formula, which have at least 10 adverse effects on the body, like reducing one’s ability to assimilate essential nutrients and increasing the potential for thyroid cancer.

3. Sugar Beets

Sugar beets comprise more than 50 percent of U.S. sugar production, while sugar cane counts for the remainder, Natural News reports. Last year, the USDA deemed genetically modified sugar beets safe, de-regulating the crop. Now the hazards of an already toxic substance are exacerbated, presenting the likelihood of increased cancer rates, changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal tract, allergic reactions, infertility and accelerated aging.

But all sugar is best avoided, according to a specialist in pediatric hormone disorders and the leading expert in childhood obesity at the University of California School of Medicine in San Francisco, Robert Lustig. “Sugar is not just an empty calorie, its effect on us is much more insidious. It has nothing to do with the calories. It's a poison by itself,” Lustig says.

4. Aspartame

This fake sugar substitute is made from genetically modified bacteria and is used in basically every diet soda and product on the market.

Aspartame “has been linked to a number of diseases, can impair the immune system, and is even known to cause cancer,” Natural News reported. In one study, of the 48 rats given aspartame, up to 67 percent of all female rats developed tumors roughly the size of golf balls or larger.

5. Canola

Canola—marketed as being void of “bad fats”—is a genetically engineered oil developed in Canada from the Rapeseed plant, which is part of the rape or mustard plant family.

Rapeseed oil is poisonous to insects and used as a repellent.

So while olive oil is made from olives and coconut oil is made from coconuts, canola oil is made from the rapeseed. Canola is short for “Canadian oil low acid.”

Agri-Alternatives, a magazine for the farming industry, notes “By nature, these rapeseed oils, which have long been used to produce oils for industrial purposes, are... toxic to humans and other animals.”

But, canola oil companies insist that through genetic engineering, it is no longer rapeseed, but “canola” instead.

According to Dr. Josh Axe, “It’s an industrial oil, not a food, and has been used in candles, soaps, lipsticks, lubricants, inks and biofuels. Rapeseed oil is what is used to make mustard gas. In its natural state, it causes respiratory distress, constipation, emphysema, anemia, irritability and blindness.”

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and we merrily keep chomping and sipping our way to a painful, lingering death...sometimes i really wonder if there is a collusion between huge agricultural conglomerates and the medical profession...i.e....we'll make billions off feeding them food to make 'em sick, and...you will make billions off 'trying' to make 'em better...

Wheat must be added to this list. All Native people should refrain from eating this grain of European origin whose contents may be poisonous to many of us. I am gluten intolerant - once I gave up eating wheat I lost a large amount of excess weight, my skin tone improved, and my achy knees felt much relieved.
Wheat was introduced by conquering Europeans in order to weaken Native people. In the Andes, Spaniards took away quinoa and potatos while forcing Tawantinsuyu (Inka) to eat wheat as a means of undermining their strength and resistance to illness. This was done to other groups by Europeans as well. The result today is rampant alcoholism, obesity, high rates of other forms of illness.
Therefore, I agree with the premise of this article that GM foods must be avoided. However, this is only the beginning for health minded people. Meanwhile, we may partake of wholesome foods such as olives, coconuts, various legumes, and herbs.
I wish each of you peace & good health.

I have had aches and pains fro inflammation for years I quit corn and wheat
that has been genetically modified and get cured if I return to gmos I end up
bed ridden for a day and it takes almost a week to return to normal

the mistake pro-gmo'ers make while posting on Indigenous sites is that they do not understand the history nor the culture behind forced assimilation and cultural land and plant species theft over generations of trauma caused by those who think they are more superior or expert about their own cultural foods. Indigenous peoples co-evolved with corn over 10 thousand years. So when a pro-gmo'er says "well there is nothing wrong with our corn, it's just like yours"....It really brings up the bile and unsettled feelings of mistrust. Pro-gmo'ers don't get that. They haven't taken the cultural sensitivity classes yet because they have an agenda. That agenda is to sell.....Indians don't think that way. They quietly listen while holding their grandma's corn seeds handed down for thousands of years. They look at them in their hands, then look at their babies. Then they nod their heads. Yep, settler colonialists trying to scam us again......

I feel good about myself as I do not consume any of the above 5 and eat mostly organic and grow a lot of my own veggies, herbs and a few berries as well as tomatoes. I am also in the process of building a small green house to extend my growing season. I attempted to grow corn the way natives did before their country was invaded, corn, beans and squash but ended up with a rodent problem but found that it was a problem within the whole community and not just me growing some corn. I have gone back to purchasing my corn from local farmers once a year and have a corn fest of Chilliwack Peaches and Cream in late August or early September. This upcoming year I will attempt once again a full garden and sit out there with my BB gun sipping rum attempting to keep the rodents at bay...

I am surprised you did not mention wheat. Celiac disease is destroying the lives of many peoples of indigenous ancestry. The disease is controllable if one stops eating anything that contains gluten. That includes wheat and can also include oats, barley, rye, and millet.